Everton could have their pick of Barcelona players if the Catalans sign Amadou Onana this summer – we assess the options.
There aren’t many things that are definite for Everton at the moment: no matter how many games they win between now and May, they have no idea how many points they will have at the end of the Premier League season, and their ownership situation is unstable. However, one thing is almost certain right now: midfielder Amadou Onana will be leaving Goodison Park this summer.
The 22-year-old Belgian, who was acquired from Lille for £33 million two years ago, is being pursued by nearly every major club in the Premier League and has attracted significant attention from abroad. Barcelona, in particular, has been frequently linked with a move as they attempt to revamp their midfield.
Barcelona’s issue is that they too have a lot of cash flow problems, so they might find Everton’s reported £80 million asking price too high. However, TeamTalk (citing Catalan outlet Sport) reports that Barcelona is hoping to circumvent this by offering the Toffees their choice of players in part-exchange.
Ansu Fati, Clément Lenglet, Sergiño Dest (now on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, Aston Villa, and PSV Eindhoven, respectively), and Fermín López are the four players reportedly up for grabs. However, who ought Everton to sign as a makeweight? We examine the choices and how Sean Dyche might use them.
Ansu Fati
Fati is an enticing proposition. He is undoubtedly one of the most talented young players in world football, but he has also been bedevilled by injuries and has struggled to string games together during his loan spell at the Amex Stadium. What he has been through is a crying shame for the game and for Fati himself, but any club signing him will be taking a massive gamble on his future fitness.
But if he does stay fit – and what a big if that is – then he could well become one of the best forwards in the world. He has scored 24 top flight goals in Spain and England despite only being able to start 35 matches in his career, he’s the youngest scorer in the history of the Spanish national team, and his combination of mazy dribbling skills, technique, finishing prowess, off-ball movement and rapid acceleration makes him genuinely lethal in the final third
Clément Lenglet
The French centre-half was a regular starter in the Barcelona side that won La Liga back in 2019 but the 28-year-old fell out of favour a couple of years ago and has spent the last two seasons on loan at both Spurs – where he was OK but little better – and now Villa, where he has been considerably more impressive.
He is probably not the best option for Everton, however, not that he’d be a bad signing should Jarrad Branthwaite be sold as well. Given the club’s financial issues they would probably want to prioritise players with resale value, which will soon be limited in Lenglet’s case, and as a defender his natural game doesn’t match up ideally with the attributes that Dyche wants.
Specifically, Lenglet is a natural ball-playing defender who looks to play out from the back and run forward to supplement the midfielder – but Dyche has always preferred to play with a more traditional centre-back pairing, and as a pure defender Lenglet doesn’t offer a noticeable upgrade over the qualities of players like James Tarkowski.
If Branthwaite leaves, signing Lenglet would address a new position of need, but it would be a solid signing which didn’t look much to the financial future of the club. If Ansu Fati is high risk, high reward, then Lenglet is the very opposite. Perhaps that in itself would appeal to Dyche’s naturally conservative tendencies.
Sergiño Dest
Of all the players Sport believe could be offered to Everton, Dest is probably the least likely – simply because PSV have an option to make his loan move permanent this summer. If he is judged to have played up to his early potential in the Eredvisie, they will keep him. If he hasn’t been good enough, then it’s hard to imagine that Everton would be that excited to pick him up themselves.
The American international was hugely hyped as a youngster as a dynamic and pacy attacking wing-back, but hasn’t really lived up to expectations or developed his end product as much as would have been hoped. He’s still a more than serviceable threat down the flank and has bagged five assists in the Netherlands this season, and his quick movement would offer Everton an extra dimension in their attacking game, but his defensive record is patchy at best. He isn’t the most Dychesque player imaginable.
There’s also the consideration that Everton already have a developing right-back in Nathan Patterson, who at 22 is a year younger than Dest and is one of the club’s brighter prospects for the near future. Signing Dest doesn’t seem to be likely on paper, nor does it make a great deal of sense.
Fermín López
The most surprising name on Sport’s list, López is a 20-year-old attacking midfielder who has broken into the Barcelona first team this season and largely impressed, scoring in recent games against Atlético Madrid, Getafe and Napoli in the Champions League.
Barcelona have proven willing to sell academy products in recent years – Nico, for instance, was shipped off to Porto for the sake of the profit – but he still seems to be a big breakthrough prospect and it would be remarkable if Barcelona attempted to usher him out of the door without giving him a chance to prove himself as a future regular.
If they do decide to offer him up, however, Everton should probably snap the Catalan club’s hand off. He’s dynamic, technically excellent, has quick feet and both scores and creates a very healthy number of chances while also putting a good shift in out of possession, with a tackling record that most holding midfielders would be proud of.
Given his age and talent (and the fact that, unlike Fati, he doesn’t have a long history of injuries to contend with), López would surely be the best buy for Everton. He would offer them the creativity and threat they crave and would likely net a healthy profit for them somewhere down the line. But we remain sceptical that Barcelona would really let him go so soon.
